anyone done it?
anyone have any plans for making them?
i downloaded some but they look a little tough, and i dont know anything about sewing.
Is it worth the effort?
I’d wager Roy has built some killer organic board shorts.
…well, I tell you that Im very interested
but I dont have a clue about that
I think the difficult parts are: good fabrics and the cuts
Boardshorts!!! - they mark these things up so much!
Over here in the surf shops you might pay $80AUS for a pair.
Prices like that makes you think you could do it cheaper - I get mine from a Factory Outlet, start from $17 up to $30 - and it’s the same stuff!!
The gross margin on these things is unreal - and they get made out of China for nix! We’re being sold the dream and getting ripped off along the way!
I guess I would only make them if I thought it was going to fun and I was really into sewing or whatever - now budgie smugglers are a cheaper option…
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now budgie smugglers are a cheaper option…
Got a pattern for them???
News just in…
A ROBBER has fled a Gold Coast pet store with a lorikeet shoved down the front of his underpants.
The man ruffled feathers at the Pet Barn, in Nerang, when he was captured on a security camera stealing the $400 bird.
It follows a spate of animal thefts at the store, including lizards, snakes and puppies.
One man even stole a fish in a McDonald’s cup prompting a “no food and drink” policy at the store. The bird smuggler fled in a car driven by a female accomplice. Investigations are continuing.
Hey SAsolitude,
I’ve made some. Got an old pair from a second hand shop that fit me and carefully took them apart. Used a little knife like thing for tearing out seams that I got from my mother in law. Probably could get one from any sewing shop. I used the cut apart panels as a pattern. Not that hard really.
Yep made some batik boardies 1990 back when we lived in Whale Bay, blue batik on one leg and red batik on the other is the way to go, hope that helps
Yes but Budgie Smugglers are in fashion again!!!
And cheap…
I’ve got a patterm downloaded, and I searched the archives for where to get the fabric.
I just can’t seem to find a pair of boardshorts that seem to fit me comfortably. The waist too big, or too small, and the shorts usually too long. The tacky designs. Plus the pricetag.
On a serious note, try sail fabrics, they’re made to be in salt water…
You can dye them with a HOT Dylon mix (get that in a Chemist)
You can bump out the pattern to fit your size, measure your waist and divide by half, add 1" to all seams and use a poly cord for the drawstring…
Double stitch all seams approx 1/4" apart…
Use nylon or rayon thread…
Stitch length on a sewing machine about 1/8" minimum, overstitch the end of the run, hems last…
Yes I do know I’m talking about…
Got to go now, fixing the kids lunches for tomorrow…
cut the pieces pin em together
try em on inside out so yew dont poke yer self
make adjustments to the fit
take em off baste them together with great big hand stitches
try em on again
adjust the fit
then sew em up.
basic sewing stuff happens when you hang arround people who sew
moms sisters woifes
are not all there is.
upolsters sailmakers and other industrial sewing
are nay so fem.
and most encouraging to
a macho tailor…
perhaps a tailoring how to website could be a source of light.
…ambrose…
taking apart an old favorite pair of shorts
that fit are the best source of info and pattern
we call reverse engineering a virtue
especially good if you find a downed ufo
take the board shorts off the dead aliens
before the army gets there
and make us all a pair,hard to get the same material.
I’ve made some, a long time ago (20 years?).
not that hard if you know how to use a sewing machine, I made a jacket too, and I used it to snowboard for about 5 years, it was awesome.
a couple of hints:
-no need to take apart an existing pair, you can get the pattern fairly easily without having to disassemble them. once you have a flat pattern sheet, you can star modifying the lines to have them fit you better (i.e., if the crotch is too tight, pull that par down in the flat sheet and so on)
-Sail material is done to withstand salt water, but is in no way comfortable, and probably pricey. the best material is microfiber, it’s comfortable and it dries fast. Parachute material is good too if you can find some: they get rid of their sails after a while because it doesn’t hold well enough for their needs, and that’s when you come in.
-worth it? unless you enjoy doing it, no. I buy my board shorts from Old Navy (believe it or not), if you look carefully you can find more than decent ones, and they’re usually between $ 10 and 15 (they’re always on sale). if you don’t care about the brand, that’s hard to beat. another thing: if you go on a surf trip to Bali or Sri Lanka, you can have some done for you there for about $ 10 or less, with your choice of everything.
d
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Just check out your local Marshall’s/TJ Maxx/Ross/Burlington Coat Factory etc type stores if you’re in the US.
I buy last season’s styles (gasp! the horror!) for $20 at the start of each summer.
Just make some “jams”
easy
We used to call them “jams” as kids before the concept of surf shorts came into being.
you just cut a front panel and a back panel
join then at the sides
simple hem the bottom of the legs
hem the waist
fold it over to the outside and hem to make a tube/channel
make two slices in front and hem the edges of the slices to prevent fraying
run a piece of cotton or nylon cord through one puka and bring it out the other
knot the ends
and you have yourself a pair of “official surf jams”
really simple…
our mom used to make then out of all kinds of left over styling aloha print material
but the best were made out of old hinode rice bags with that cool print
or the thick checkered palaka material from Arakawa’s or the old Ewa Plantation store.
That’s all we wore down at the beach till the invention of velcro, snaps and scalloped legs on shorts which some japanese guy named Craig started selling with parrafin wax next to the monkeybar in pearl city.
Man we were so “conservative”(cheap) as my parents used to say in those days that our mom made us our own speedos for waterpolo out of lined, flesh colored nylon material…
but that’s a whole nother crazy story Mr. Sharkbait can tell you…
Hell I’ve seen guys surf in those crocheted aluminum primo beer can pull tabs as well as guys in surfing with just a small leather pouch held up with leather staps well before the string bikini or surfing in speedos became popular. Being stoned out of your mind kind of helped back then too…
sorry…
just couldn’t resist reminicing…
but really it’s simple if you keep it that way…
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Just make some "jams"easy
We used to call them “jams” as kids before the concept of surf shorts came into being.
My mom made all my jams back in the days. Mostly Hawaiian prints. I had dozens of them.
Then came the days in So Cal when guys wore their trunks on the outside of their wetsuits - the ones with the beaver tails. That was kooky.
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Hell I’ve seen guys surf in those crocheted aluminum primo beer can pull tabs as well as guys in surfing with just a small leather pouch held up with leather staps well before the string bikini or surfing in speedos became popular. Being stoned out of your mind kind of helped back then too…
Sufing naked is fun. Wax is an issue.
Yes but an interesting way of removing unwanted hair!!!
Spinnaker cloth is comfortable (nylon) but regular dacron sailcloth isn’t.
Hi Oneula,
If these “official surf jams” are something that have historical significance and you dont mind sharing more information about their construction, I’d be happy to run up 50 pairs for Swaylocks.I’ll do it for free just to keep myself busy in the evenings if you can pass on a few drawings.
Maybe they could go to sale on Swaybay to raise a few bucks for Sways?
Or be donated to a worthy cause?
Or just handed out to the faithful ?
Replica handmade Jams, who wouldnt want a pair, or two !!
Ive been a closet tailor for 31 years and Ive got lots of spare time. Started hand sewing my own boardshorts and T-shirts back in 76/77. If I’d been smarter I’d be Mr Quicksilver now rather than just an old fart !!
I take it that they are a basic 2 panel construction, I just need a bit more info to do a faithful reproduction.
I can do them in several sizes: Penguin, Seal,Dolphin, Walrus and Orca.
Thanks and Im ready to start now !
Quote:
Just make some “jams”
easy
We used to call them “jams” as kids before the concept of surf shorts came into being.
you just cut a front panel and a back panel
join then at the sides
simple hem the bottom of the legs
hem the waist
fold it over to the outside and hem to make a tube/channel
make two slices in front and hem the edges of the slices to prevent fraying
run a piece of cotton or nylon cord through one puka and bring it out the other
knot the ends
and you have yourself a pair of “official surf jams”
really simple…
our mom used to make then out of all kinds of left over styling aloha print material
The Jams were really basic shorts, I think the front and back panels were the same. Draw string kept them on, no fly. Personally, I like mine lined with a soft material on the inside. Helps to keep the boys from getting all scratched up.
What my mom did later was take a pair of our shorts or shirts and make patterns. She would basically cut panels an inch or so wider than the shorts we had then sew them together. We had velcro flys and buttons. She could make any style of clothes that way. We had the same style of clothes that the Name brands had, but in custom aloha print material tailored to fit our bodies.
I think it would be cool if there were a way to make a swaylocks pattern on hemp material, then make surf jams. That would be like modern day rice bag jams.
Oh yeah… nothing like flesh colored speedos to get you thrown out of the pool.